Online Reporter
Mukudzei Chingwere
Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S drive towards food self-sufficiency and climate-resilient agriculture is attracting growing interest across the continent, with several African countries keen to adopt the strategies that have underpinned the country’s record wheat harvests, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka has said.
The growing recognition has also fuelled calls for Zimbabwe to bid to host the 2027 African Food Systems Forum, one of the continent’s premier platforms for advancing food security and agricultural transformation.
Dr Masuka revealed this following a side meeting with former Botswana President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.
The two discussed President Mnangagwa’s leadership in repositioning Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector and explored how the country’s experiences could help other African nations tackle food insecurity and modernise farming systems.
“The former President of the Republic of Botswana, when we met, reflected on the visit he made to Zimbabwe and the leadership that President Mnangagwa is demonstrating in the field of agriculture,” said Dr Masuka.
“Building on that, he suggested that, as part of the African Food Systems Forum Summit, Zimbabwe could bid to host the 2027 edition. It was a very cordial discussion.
“The lessons we have as Zimbabwe could provide a basis for knowledge-sharing with other African countries.”
In recent years, Zimbabwe has implemented aggressive programmes aimed at guaranteeing national food security and insulating agricultural production from increasingly volatile weather patterns.
According to the Government’s National Development Strategy 2, the country achieved wheat self-sufficiency in 2023.
Production increased from 337 000 tonnes in 2021 to 564 000 tonnes in 2024, before reaching more than 641 000 tonnes last year, well above the national annual requirement of approximately 400 000 tonnes.
The momentum has continued this year, with farmers having planted a record 133 048 hectares of wheat by the end of July, up from 121 281 hectares during the same period last year.
Summer crops have recorded similar gains.
Government figures show maize production increased by 17,1 percent, rising from 2,2 million tonnes last year to about 2,69 million tonnes this year.
Soyabean output recorded an even sharper increase, rising by 125 percent from 52 794 tonnes to 119 067 tonnes. As a result, the Second Round Crop, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment Report projects a Strategic Grain Reserve surplus of between 550 945 and 964 945 tonnes.
The progress has been driven by a multi-pronged strategy centred on irrigation expansion, increased mechanisation, climate-proofing initiatives and a policy shift towards treating agriculture as a business.
Under Vision 2030, the Government aims to restore Zimbabwe’s status as a major food producer in Southern Africa.
Attention is now shifting from production to value addition and rural industrialisation.
Dr Masuka said the Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2026-2030 focuses on perennial food security, improved nutrition and increased farmer incomes.
A key pillar of the country’s success has been the expansion of climate-smart agriculture.
A four-year joint programme with the African Development Bank recently reached more than 188 000 farming households across 153 000 hectares, contributing to average wheat yields of five tonnes per hectare.
The discussions between Dr Masuka and former President Masisi underscore Zimbabwe’s growing influence in the continental debate on reducing dependence on food imports.
Hosting the African Food Systems Forum would provide Zimbabwe with an opportunity to showcase its achievements while fostering collaboration among policymakers, investors and farmers from across Africa.
